Skip to content

Thud!

Thud!

FantasyHigh Fantasy
Pages
464
Published
2005
Language
English

Synopsis

It is the anniversary of the Battle of Koom Valley — the only battle in history where dwarfs and trolls ambushed each other simultaneously — and tensions between the two communities in Ankh-Morpork are at breaking point. A famous dwarf has been murdered deep underground, and Sam Vimes must investigate before the murder becomes the spark for a war. But someone has put something in Vimes's head, and it is growing.

Prose complexity
6/10

Vibe

FunnySatiricalGrittyTense
Anti-HeroMorally GreyFound FamilyMystery Box

Genres

Fantasy High Fantasy Comic Fiction Humor

About the author

T
Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) was an English author best known for the Discworld series, a sequence of forty-one comic fantasy novels set on a flat world carried through space on the backs of four elephants standing on a giant turtle. Across four decades, the Discworld grew from a parody of sword-and-sorcery fantasy into one of the most sustained works of social satire in English literature, examining politics, religion, science, gender, race, capitalism, and the nature of stories themselves. Pra...

Characters

Sam VimesProtagonist

Investigating a politically explosive murder while something he cannot name begins influencing his thoughts and behaviour.

Carrot IronfounderssonSupporting

Navigating the dwarf-troll tensions with his characteristic directness — increasingly the moral and operational centre of the Watch.

AnguaSupporting

Managing the investigation's werewolf angle while Vimes deals with his own internal crisis.

A.E. PessimalSupporting

A tiny government inspector assigned to audit the Watch — and the novel's funniest running joke, which resolves in an unexpectedly moving way.

Nobby NobbsSupporting
All characters in Thud!

Frequently asked questions

  • When was Thud! published?

    First published on 27 September 2005 by Doubleday. It is the thirty-fourth Discworld novel and the seventh City Watch book.

  • What is the Battle of Koom Valley?

    The Battle of Koom Valley is legendary on the Discworld as the only battle where both sides ambushed each other simultaneously — the origin of the mutual hatred between dwarfs and trolls. Its anniversary is a flashpoint every year in Ankh-Morpork, and the novel's murder is designed to exploit this tension.

  • What is the 'thing' inside Vimes?
  • What is the 'I Shall Read to My Child at Six O'Clock' scene?

    One of the most beloved moments in the Watch books: Vimes, regardless of what crisis is happening, reads 'Where's My Cow?' to his son Sam at six o'clock every evening. In Thud!, this commitment becomes a scene of extraordinary emotional power during the novel's most dangerous sequence.

  • Is the dwarf-troll conflict in Thud! based on a real analogy?

    Yes — Pratchett explicitly uses the dwarf-troll conflict as an analogy for religious and ethnic sectarianism, particularly the Northern Ireland Troubles. The ancient battle with disputed causes driving modern violence is the analogy's direct expression.

Read all 4 reviews